Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Iron Fever

It seems like the whole world is heading to Kona this week, and it's making me crazy! I'm envious, I'm excited, and I'm thinking about next year and if I can make it.

In my life, I have watched a total of 1 sporting event on TV: the Superbowl last year. And yes, it was for the snacks. OK, of course, I watched the Tour this summer. But this past month, my new favorite channel has been Universal Sports, and every triathlon they have on, I'm usually watching it while riding or doing yoga. It's total immersion in a very bizarre way. I think Robbie is confused and confounded every time he walks in and I'm screaming at the TV or tearing up at watching a great finish. I gotta get a VCR and start taping these...

But anyway, my life. While I'm not Kona-bound, I do have big workouts coming up this weekend, and I've been working hard all week. After Sunday night's "practice" combined with the 6 year old antics, my quads felt like they were about to explode. So I did what any normal person would do: a kickass weight set on Monday, followed by a ride or two.

Then, Tuesday was early morning swim class trying out my new flippers and doing upwards of 3000 yards. I learned to do flip turns, and only hit the wall once- hard! I also worked on a lot of bilateral breathing, which is coming more and more naturally, and started trying out my flippers. Then, a kick set at the end destroyed what was left of my quads.

By the time I got home, my upper back aws feeling tight- I guess the bilateral breathing is changing the way I use my muscles, combined with the technique stuff I'm working on. So, ouch.

Normally, fro 2-9 on Tuesdays (and plenty of other times), I'm a nanny. But Steph ahd a family emergency so I was off the hook for the day. That meant time to a) sit around and watch Degrassi with Adam and stretch my back, b) a rare chance to see Robbie during the day, c) an excellent opportunity to go for a quick 6 mile run in perfect weather, and d) the chance to actually cook lunch and dinner and sit and enjoy them! It also left time for work, research, hair dying, Iron Yoga, and more Degrassi- I think I'm hooked!

I've also decided that in the off season (so to speak) I'd like to drop between 5 and 10 pounds. Much easier said than done. I don't really eat any more than I should, if anything, some days I fall short. It's just that I eat a lot of junk food and I really love night time snacking- I blame Robbie and Adam, who eat like crazy every night at 9 or 10. So I'm working on it. Kinda successfully. It's just hard to find the balance between eating enough to keep my training up and eating little enough to drop some weight. I'm also not weighing myself more than 2 times a week, since I don't want to get obsessive. Been there, done that, and it always makes me miserable.

Tonight is cyclocross practice and a run with Pete. I still need to sign up for the race I'm doing next weekend, or at least, the race I'm planning to do. We'll see!